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Court clerk lays off 170 county workers

Monday, February 14, 2011Chicago Sun-Timesby Lisa Donovan

Cook County Circuit Clerk Court Dorothy Brown’s
office handed pink slips to 170 employees on Monday, part of the
belt-tightening in county government as officials work to plug a
half-billion deficit.

Brown, whose office is the official record keeper
of county court cases — from murders to foreclosure suis — didn’t say
where the layoffs were happening.

In a prepared statement, she did say: “This is a
painful day for all of us at the Clerk’s Office,” Brown said. “We did
what was requested, but it’s not without realizing that people are being
laid off during a tough economic time. This lay off will put a high
strain on the Clerk of the Circuit Court’s ability to perform its
statutory and constitutional responsibilities.”

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle asked
Brown and other county elected leaders to cut 16 percent. For the clerks
office, that means slashing $12.4 million this year, according to
Preckwinkle’s proposed $3.1 billion spending plan. Cook County
commissioners have a Feb. 28 deadline to approve the final budget
package.

Preckwinkle said in her budget address earlier this month that layoffs could reach 2,000 in a payroll of 23,700 employees.